


In the Rain

by Mad_Mage



Series: Pebbles [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Ahch-To, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempt at Humor, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 12:08:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15685143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mad_Mage/pseuds/Mad_Mage
Summary: Master Skywalker’s morning routine was never quite the same since Rey arrived.





	In the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> I finally got rid of the crutches and to celebrate the occasion, I’m posting this little one-shot. Enjoy!

Master Skywalker woke up, the sleep fading away even as he tried to hold onto it with every fiber of his being. With his eyes still closed, he listened to the sounds around him, frowning slightly.

His mood had been dark these last few days and darkened further. It was raining. Again. It was always raining on Ahch-To and growing up on a desert planet, he found the rain just not to his tastes. Moreover, _she_ was there, pottering somewhere outside of the hut, moving things here and there, putting them where he couldn’t find them later.

The girl was humming, and it was too bloody early for that. Luke scowled as he listened to her footsteps and the sounds she was making. _Clink. Clank. Whack!_ He had plenty of reasons why he was in such a foul mood.

He winced, scowling some more. That sounded like something heavy had slipped from her hands. Something which belonged to him and he certainly hadn’t given her permission to make herself at home and use any of his things. She just hadn’t really asked, proclaiming herself to be his Padawan and insisting on living in the hut across from his. Why? Because his sister had said so, had said that some company would be good for him. Damn Leia.

He liked his solitude, thank you very much, and silence, and he did not want a Padawan. He loved how simple things had been on the Temple Island. He hadn’t wanted to be found and dragged into yet another galactic conflict. He had made peace with the fact that he would be the last Jedi ages ago. With his death, the legacy would be slowly forgotten, and something new and untainted could replace it. Such was the nature of life, and he had been content with that thought until Rey had arrived, disrupting everything.

The girl’s tenacity was almost admirable – when it wasn’t annoying him to death. For two weeks, that’s 336 hours, Rey from Nowhere inflicted her optimism and cheerful personality on him. It didn’t matter how ill-tempered he got, she was always respectful and smiling, and constantly somewhere close by, patiently waiting for him to come around and start teaching her the ways of the Force. She could wait forever, he was not going to teach her anything. He had promised to never train another Jedi again. Never. One annoying girl with her happy attitude was not going to change his mind.

Force, he found her annoying! Especially since the moment, he had found himself staring at her lips every damn time she spoke. She was too young for him to have such thoughts about her. Why it had been her of all possible people to come to Ahch-To? He would have sent everyone else on their merry way already. But Rey? He just didn't know how to send her away. Perhaps even didn’t want to. There was just something in the way she moved and talked – and smiled and looked at him – that made him remember who had been once.

Luke sat up, heaving a sigh, tiredly rubbing at his eyes. The problem was there just wasn’t anything left of him to give – to Rey, to his sister, to the rest of the galaxy. The man he had once been was dead, murdered. Left in his place was only a shell – cold and empty. Everything he had been was gone, just like his dreams and hopes and all of his strength. He wasn’t even sure that he could call himself a Jedi, let alone a Jedi Master. Luke was no savior, just a tired old man, and that was what Rey needed to understand. Perhaps then she would stop staring at him with that slightly dazed expression when she thought he wasn’t paying attention.

Now he only wished to be able to live the rest of his days in peace. Without memories of days long gone and thoughts that were just too painful to contemplate.

_Clink. Clank.Whack!_

“For Force’s sake!” he bellowed and jumped up, striding to the door and yanking it open. “Can’t a man have a few hours of undisturbed sleep?”

“Master Skywalker!”

Luke came to an abrupt stop at the sight that greeted him. He blinked and then swallowed, taking a step back. He closed his eyes as an afterthought. However, it was doubtful he would ever get the image of the young woman in her rain-soaked undershirt out of his mind. It was so thin. And so damn short. And clinging to her like a second skin. The exact shape of her body had been burnt in his memory. “Sorry! Sorry! Haven’t seen anything!”

“I didn’t expect you to be up this early in the morning, Master. It’s raining.” She managed to sound reproachful as he listened to her movements. Good, she was putting some clothes on. Hopefully. “You never rise this early if it’s raining!”

“I couldn’t sleep with all the noise you were making!” Luke’s answer was loud. Anger was much better than embarrassment. Focusing on being indignant kept his mind from actually thinking about what he had seen. “And why were you running around half-naked? Have you no decency?”

“I was doing laundry! The rest of my clothes are wet! And it's not like I am actually half-naked here, you know? I was covered enough.”

“No, you were not.”

He could imagine Rey rolling her eyes at him as she said, “Well, I am now. You can open your eyes.”

Luke immediately did so, cursing the small part of him which hoped that she still forgot to put a shirt on. He kind of liked Rey’s idea of decency. It wasn’t exactly his fault. He was a man, and Rey was a woman; a young and beautiful woman who happened to be the only other inhabitant of the island. These thoughts were perfectly natural as long as they remain private and never acted upon.

Rey’s cheeks were pink, big brown eyes gazing at him in a mix of amusement and annoyance. She was also wrapped in… Is that his cloak? Was she wearing her undershirt under it, or was she going to wash it, too?

Momentarily distracted, Luke missed how Rey’s eyebrows rose.

“Well, Master, and where’s your decency?”

“What?” he huffed and started to cross his arms over his chest. That was the moment he realized that he was the one who had forgotten to put a shirt on before he had burst out of the door.

Swearing loudly and blushing furiously, Master Skywalker retreated inside of the hut. He heard her giggle and resume that blasted humming. Yanking a clean shirt over his head and strapping his lightsaber to his belt, he stomped back outside.

This time, when he stopped moving abruptly, he didn’t close his eyes or retreated a step back. This time, he took a deep breath and swallowed, hooking his thumbs behind his belt, relaxing his posture. There was no harm in appreciating beauty, was there? Head tilted to the side, he asked, “How often do you do your laundry?”

“Every other day, Master.” Rey didn’t bother to turn around as she answered. She continued to kneel on the ground by the stream which only formed when it was raining – but it was always raining on Ahch-To.

Luke tilted his head to the other side as Rey shifted her position slightly. Her undershirt was just long enough to offer her the decency he had spoken about. Or the illusion of it, as it was. Forgetting why he had come out of his hut in the first place – was there even a reason? – he took a deep breath, a small smile not seen in many, many years appearing on his face.

Every other day, she had said. Perhaps there was something positive about Rey's pottering around the hut every bloody morning. And the rain? It definitely had its advantages. For a moment, he could imagine that having the girl here with him would not result in him slowly losing what was left of his sanity.

“Is there anything you need, Master?”

“Hmm?”

“You need something?” Rey glanced over her shoulder at him, found Luke staring, and blinked. A strange expression flitted across her face, and she slowly sat at the back her heels, pulling her leggings out of the water slowly. “Master?”

Luke couldn’t come up with a good answer, and he just shrugged helplessly. “No, I’m good.”

“Are you certain about that, _Master_ _?_ ”

There was something about the way she was saying that word that made his heartbeat quicken. Or maybe it was the look on her face as her eyes roamed over him. No longer dazed but entirely focused on him, observing, assessing. He wasn’t sure he liked the shift.

“Perhaps… a bit of peace and quiet,” Luke whispered when he broke away from her gaze. Her eyes were so dark, so deep, reminding him of hot chocolate. “If you don’t mind.”

“You would be bored to tears in an hour if I left.”

“I pray for that day every morning.” Luke huffed and crossed his arms, watching warily as Rey rose. She put his cloak over her shoulders and approached him slowly, her eyes bright and sparkling with amusement and...Victory? He couldn’t say why, but Luke felt like a prey, caught in the trap of her gaze, and Rey was the beast ready to pounce.

“You know, you’re pretty good at that. Lying to yourself. But it doesn’t really work on me,” Rey murmured as she stopped in front of him. Impossibly close. Luke was trapped and uncertain how to react to such proximity. He could actually _feel_ her breath ghost over his cheek, smell the rain on her skin, when she leaned in and asked, “Breakfast, Master?”

“Uh, yes, that’s a good idea,” he croaked. Was that his voice? It didn’t sound like that. Rey gave him a sweet slow smile as she ducked around him and made her way towards the hut – his hut – as if the whole damned island belonged to her, including all of Luke’s property... Including Luke. Watching her go, he wasn’t sure what had just happened and shook his head. Breakfast sounded like a good idea – right after a long cool dip in the ocean to clear his mind.

Rey’s content humming reached him again, and Luke couldn’t stop the huff of laughter that escaped him as he broke into a jog to the shoreline.

**Author's Note:**

> You know I love to hear from you, so what do you think? It wasn’t too silly, was it? Please, let me know, and I hope you enjoyed reading grumpy Luke as much as I enjoyed writing him.


End file.
